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Foretravel Motorhome Forums => Foretravel Discussions => Topic started by: bbeane on February 11, 2015, 03:50:54 pm

Title: Shower Leak
Post by: bbeane on February 11, 2015, 03:50:54 pm
I have a leak in the shower, floor and wall area near the bedroom door, appears to be a non pressure leak. I have removed the inspection covers for the controls in the bed room cabinet all appears dry at the control and outlet, as well as the area around the drain. Bottom of the shower pan looks dry too. Anyone have any Ideas? I'm going to do an inspection with the old Dewalt super snooper camera tonight.
Title: Re: Shower Leak
Post by: Carol Savournin on February 11, 2015, 04:31:15 pm
We had an issue with our shower drain last summer. I noticed a "funky" sort of odor from time to time that I could not pinpoint. the little grate that provides a look into the shower pan area showed nothing UNTIL ... one day after showering, I noticed something shiny under there.  It was water!  There was a crack in the drain pipe under the shower that had grown over a period of time.  Access through the wheel well was not the right angle to get to it.  Our repair guy was also unable to get to it by accessing from beingd the commode due to the placement of the little vent thingy.  Instead of the nightmare of removing the entire shower (!!!) we decided on a "Hail Mary" approach of cutting a different access in the wheel well.  That worked, and he was able to gain the access needed to repair the weird crack.  He said it looked more like a crack from having frozen water in the pipe ... but we KNOW that the coach has never been in freezing temps since we bought it in 2011.  This fall, in Nac, we happened to discover another leak ... this one from the bathroom sink and perhaps part of the shower drain into the gray tank.  This little repair involved removing the commode in order to remove all the bathroom drawers to get to the leak and an overnight dehumidifier to dry out the flooring.  We are told by the guys in the Service Dept that the black, marine pipe can become brittle and begin cracking ... they have gone to using the white PVC for all their repairs.  Good Luck!! 
Title: Re: Shower Leak
Post by: Kent Speers on February 11, 2015, 06:40:50 pm
We too had a drain leak. I simply removed the silver drain cover, cleaned the shower pan surface and installed some rope caulk under the strainer before I screwed it back in place. No leaks in two years.
Title: Re: Shower Leak
Post by: bbeane on February 12, 2015, 10:12:41 am
Anyone with a shower drain leak had it leak on the actual sub floor in side the coach. Mine has a rather large hole through the sub floor that the pipe passes through, casual inspection of the wheel well area is dry, Also can you see the drain if the cover on in the water pump/ plumbing is removed? Tonight I'm going to lean the coach to the passenger side were you can see better and see what happens. I normally set it up slightly low to the back and drivers side for AC and rain runoff. I really really don't want to start tearing things apart until I can pin point the leak.
Title: Re: Shower Leak
Post by: jor on February 12, 2015, 04:59:15 pm
I'm thinking you have a different issue in that you've got water inside but here are a couple of photos of my leak which might help. In our case, the leak was where the drain attached to the drain pipe.
jor

Title: Re: Shower Leak
Post by: RRadio on February 12, 2015, 07:46:37 pm
I had a roof leak that dripped into the shower. It turned out to be a crack in the roofing fabric between the rooftop air conditioner and the shower skylight. I fixed it by removing the air conditioner temporarily and applying a roof patch. It's been a couple of years now and appears to be "permanently" repaired.
Title: Re: Shower Leak
Post by: jor on February 13, 2015, 05:30:20 pm
Quote
Its generally not recommended to join ABS (black) pipe to PVC (white) pipe.
Steve,
  This repair doesn't involve any glue. It's a "from the top" repair for the shower drain. Essentially, you remove the old drain from the drain pipe and slide this product over the drain pipe. It seals with a greased o-ring. I got the idea from flite2010 after he repaired his. Works great. The ref is: Easy Shower Drain Repair and Replacement | Fix Leaky Shower Drain | WingTite... (http://www.wingtite.com/shower-drain-repair/)
jor
Title: Re: Shower Leak
Post by: wolfe10 on February 13, 2015, 06:04:22 pm
Boy, that looks like a great solution.

Title: Re: Shower Leak
Post by: bbeane on February 23, 2015, 09:53:32 pm
Finally found the leak, seem between the shower pan and back wall corian. It was leaking about in the middle of the joint and running out between the back wall and the curb the shower pan sits on at the corner by the bed room door. The caulking looked good, upon further inspection the joint is about an1/8 wide and 1/2 deep. Over the years it has never been completely cleaned out, just caulked over. Now the question is what to use to re-caulk 3M 5200 comes to mind, but if you ever needed to remove it, it would be a problem. The old standard stuff at the big box stores doesn't seem to adhere to the fiberglass pan and the corian wall.
Title: Re: Shower Leak
Post by: John Haygarth on February 24, 2015, 01:14:54 pm
Use a Polyurethane sealant after giving the area a good solid cleaning.
JohnH
Title: Re: Shower Leak
Post by: jor on February 24, 2015, 04:40:39 pm
Quote
Now the question is what to use to re-caulk
I just used some tub and shower silicone from Home Depot. Seems to stick well to both surfaces.
jor

Title: Re: Shower Leak
Post by: bbeane on February 26, 2015, 09:49:35 pm
Just finished recaulking with 3M 4000 UV, it's supposed to be not quite as "permanent " as 5200. It goes on and finishes nice, looks like it adheres to the Corian good. Next is put the wood flooring back down after letting the sub floor dry out, what a major ordeal! Using the camp ground shower is a PITA.
Title: Re: Shower Leak
Post by: Retired Navy Chief on February 26, 2015, 10:00:02 pm
Using the camp ground shower is a PITA.
How quick we notice the comforts of our own home once they are not available.
Title: Re: Shower Leak
Post by: bbeane on February 27, 2015, 07:39:58 am
David it sure does, especially since we went full time 7 mos ago. It's a little different than when we owned the house, if you had problems just park it in the shed and work on it at your leisure.
Title: Re: Shower Leak
Post by: FourTravelers on January 09, 2016, 06:29:53 pm
I'm thinking you have a different issue in that you've got water inside but here are a couple of photos of my leak which might help. In our case, the leak was where the drain attached to the drain pipe.
jor


Any more problems with leaks after this repair?

I am considering using the same device, Home Depot now stocks it.

What is WingTite? Easy Shower Drain Repair and Replacement | Fix Leaky... (http://www.wingtite.com/shower-drain-repair/)
Title: Re: Shower Leak
Post by: jor on January 09, 2016, 07:21:06 pm
Quote
Any more problems with leaks after this repair?

None. Works great. Another user actually did this first and I knocked off the idea. Probably more photos on his post. Good luck.
jor
Title: Re: Shower Leak
Post by: Mark D on January 10, 2016, 08:34:09 pm
For anyone wondering, silicone works well for the tub to wall joint BUT you have to clean all the old silicone off.  I mean ALL of it.  It takes a long long time with alcohol, mineral spirits, caulk remover or whatever you can find.  You can feel it being smooth instead of rubbery when you have it all off.  I used a razor blade too which worked well but have to be very careful.
Title: Re: Shower Leak
Post by: Norman & Myra on March 06, 2016, 07:19:43 pm
New twist to the same problem. I have a shower leak (2008 Nimbus CE). It is leaking inside the coach inside the wall between the shower and the hutch in the kitchen. I have isolated the leak to the cold water line by alternately shutting off the hot and cold water feed and looking for water seeping out from under the wall. Leaks regardless of whether the shower is running.  Leaks out from under the wall onto the floor and the space under the hutch (was about 1/8" standing water under the hutch when I pulled out the bottom drawer). I removed the tap cover in the shower but the opening behind it is insufficient to see where the leak is or reach it even it you could see it). I am wondering if there is a joint somewhere inside the wall and if so how to get at it.
Title: Re: Shower Leak
Post by: bbeane on March 06, 2016, 07:56:33 pm
Mine had an access cover inside a cabinet on the wall behind shower, look carefully In the back of the hutch. Not sure about a Nimbus. It's pretty clear you are going to have to get access to it. You might try call F/T also.
Title: Re: Shower Leak
Post by: Norman & Myra on March 07, 2016, 02:29:11 pm
Thanks, I did take a quick look but did not see one. I will pull everything out and the shelves and have a closer look.